Leigh was born and raised in the garden county of Wicklow, Ireland. She lives by the Irish Sea with the love of her life, two wonderful boys, a black Labrador, and a three-legged cat that hates people.
She has been published online and in print by Black Hare Press, Trembling With Fear, Books of Horror, and more. You can find out more about Leigh’s work and any upcoming releases on her social media: LeighKennyWrites
Her debut novella, Cursed, is available to order here: https://mybook.to/Cursed-LeighKenny
DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS
by
Leigh Kenny
The fire crackled in the hearth, flames dancing merrily and scorching the brick with wild abandon. Danny muted the tv with a sigh and stood, tossing another log onto the grate. The flames accepted the new morsel greedily.
The news channel had been full of reports of snow, and it seemed a white Christmas would be had by most. Not the residents of Seacrest though. Pulling the net curtain aside, he checked for what felt like the thousandth time, but still the unblemished ground beyond the window mocked him.
No snow. Not so much as a flake.
Danny remembered his own snowy Christmas’s as a youngster. The thick blanket of glistening white had always added a magical touch to what was already the most anticipated day of the year for every child. He revelled in repeating the stories for his own children. Now that they were old enough to appreciate the wonders of the festive season, both Emily and DJ had expressed a burning desire to witness a white Christmas of their own.
When the news reports had started rolling in yesterday about the massive snowfalls happening across the nation, Danny’s heart had filled with joy and anticipation.
As Christmas Eve had dawned, he had been the first up, pounding down the stairs in excitement and throwing the front door open only to be greeted by untouched grass.
To make matters worse, the news reports had since spoke of worldwide snow falls that were unprecedented. Usually hot and dry countries were experiencing huge accumulations of snow, sometimes for the first time in decades, or ever!
He had muted the tv, unable to continue to watch the rest of the world revel in the one thing his children wished for.
The Christmas tree in the corner glowed, its festive lights of red and gold glittering invitingly. Danny straightened a couple of the ornaments as he passed. This was the first year that Emily and DJ had decorated the tree themselves, and he had found himself making tiny adjustments here and there as December rolled slowly towards the big day. Leaning into the tree, the warm scent of pine enveloped his senses, and Danny smiled to himself at the memory of their trip to the Christmas tree lot. Christmas in the Devlin household only truly began when they donned their hats and coats and made the annual trip to choose their tree. It was one of his favourite times of the whole year, and he suspected that the rest of his family felt similarly.
Jessica, never usually one for enjoying domestic tasks, seemed to change overnight every December once the tree went up. She spent most of the month baking up a storm in the brightly painted kitchen. Any other time of the year, she would yell at both Danny and the kids to get out from under her feet while she was cooking, but not at Christmas. Jess would call out to him or the kids, offering them taste testing duties as she bustled about the room, a red and white apron tied around her waist and a Christmas song upon her lips.
Even now, the scent of cinnamon and warmth that wafted from the kitchen made his mouth water. With a grin, Danny grabbed his empty coffee mug from the table and followed the delicious smell.
Jess was bent towards the oven, a tray of piping hot cookies sliding out in her gloved hands. Unable to resist, Danny slapped her gently on the backside.
“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” he drawled, a lazy smile stretching across his face.
His wife straightened, placing the cookies on the stovetop, before swatting at him playfully with a tea towel.
“Get your dirty mitts off my buns, Danny Devlin,” she laughed. “See you might finally get your white Christmas after all?”
Danny’s ears pricked.
“Look at those clouds rolling in,” Jess continued, pushing the curtain aside to point off towards the distant sky.
Sure enough, dirty clouds, the colour of bruises, were slowly drifting in their direction. Danny cheered as he refilled his mug, grabbing a fresh cup to fill for Jessica.
Nabbing a couple of still-hot biscuits from the tray, he turned towards the living room.
An ear-splitting scream sent ice crawling through his veins, and the steaming cup fell from his grasp, shattering across the tiled floor.
“Daddy! Mommy!”
Danny and Jess ran towards their stricken daughter as she backed out of the living room. Her eyes were wild and wide as saucers, and never once left the muted tv.
Lifting his head to the screen, his daughter trembling in his embrace, Danny hissed a sharp breath. The ground beneath him felt for a second as though it was falling away, threatening to drag him into a black abyss of nothingness.
There on the screen, unimaginable horror unfolded. Bloodied bodies, screaming anguished faces, cowering children; each image that flashed by on the screen was more horrifying than the last.
Jess grabbed the remote and raised the volume.
“…and millions dead worldwide. Some areas are reporting now that creatures are emerging from the snow and decimating local populations. These reports are unconfirmed, but it has been confirmed that the snow itself is causing mass casualties. It appears to be burning some people like acid, and leaving thousands suffering from, what has so far been, a fatal illness. No links have been confirmed yet between the creatures emerging from the snow and the huge numbers of the dead, whose bodies their families claim have disappeared. More on these stories as we get them. If it begins to snow in your area, authorities are recommending that you stay indoors and stay tuned to a news source. We repeat, stay indoors. Do not go out in the snow!”
Danny glanced at his wife, a helpless expression on his face, but Jessica’s eyes were fixed on the window.
Beyond the glass, fat flakes of snow began to fall silently.